The COVID-19 pandemic created social upheaval and altered norms for all members of society, but its effects on first responders have been particularly profound. Law enforcement officers have been expected to coordinate local shutdowns, encourage social distancing, and enforce stay-at-home mandates all while completing the responsibilities for which they are already understaffed and underfunded. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on officer stress, mental health, resiliency, and misconduct is explored drawing insight from reactions to the HIV epidemic over two decades earlier and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. COVID-19 policing is hypothesized to serve as a significant stressor for officers and compound the general and organizational stress associated with the occupation. Avenues for providing officer support are discussed and recommendations for research into the phenomenon presented.

Degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes predisposes to antisocial behaviour. This study supports a relationship between frontal-temporal dysfunction and certain types of antisocial activities.

No abstract

A mixture of codeine cough syrup with alcohol and/or a soft drink known as "purple drank" has gained media attention in recent years as a drug associated with professional athletes and southern rap music. The existing research on purple drank consumption has primarily utilized samples of African Americans residing in the Houston, Texas area. This is the first scholarly study of purple drank use outside of the Houston, Texas area among a general population of young adults, and indicates that purple drank use is not limited to African American males. The findings depict higher odds of the use of purple drank among other racial and ethnic groups, males, and homosexual, bisexual, and transgender college students from urban areas.

We present a case of acute alcohol-induced Korsakoff amnesia. A severe amnestic-confabulatory syndrome characterized the early clinical status. The initial neuropsychological tests demonstrated severe learning deficits plus impaired performance on many, but not all, tests of frontal lobe function. Single-photon emission CT (SPECT) at this stage showed hypoperfusion in the orbital and medical frontal regions and the medial diencephalic area. Four months later, the patient's amnesia remained but there was no confabulation. Repeat neuropsychological tests confirmed an ongoing severe amnesia, but performance on the frontal lobe tests now was normal. Repeat SPECT showed a return to normal perfusion in the frontal brain areas but little improvement in the medial diencephalic region. These findings along with data from the clinical literature suggest that confabulation results from dysfunction of orbital and a medial frontal cortex.

Objectives. The authors examine perceptions of a peer's substance use to determine whether and to what degree individuals project their own behavior onto their perceptions of peer's delinquency, and to determine whether the constructs of self-control and peer attachment are related to perceptions. Methods. Using a sample of 2,154 young adult respondents within friendship pairs in which each respondent reported their own substance use and their perception of the friend's use, the authors estimate a series of regression models with perceptions of a peer's alcohol, marijuana, Salvia divinorum, and hard drug use as dependent variables. Results. Perceptions of a peer's substance use are approximately equally related to a peer's and a respondent's use of each substance. Projection occurs to a greater extent when perceiving low-frequency behaviors. Low self-control is sporadically associated with higher perceived substance use. Conclusions. Peer selfreported delinquency and perceptions of peer delinquency are distinct constructs. Because projection appears to be worse for infrequent behaviors, researchers should use caution when using low-frequency behaviors to measure perceptual peer delinquency. Although the data used are cross sectional, the perceptual measure is confounded by too many variables other than a peer's actual delinquency to be considered a valid measure of the sole construct of peer delinquency.

No abstract

The recreational use of Salvia divinorum has received increased attention by media outlets and policy-makers in recent years. The vast absence of research to guide the dissemination of information has prompted this research note describing the use of this substance in a large public institution of higher education. The prevalence of Salvia divinorum is described in this context and a description of patterns of use, methods of acquisition, and a subjective estimation of continuance are proffered.